Your Guide to Meiji

Views Across Borders

Southeast Asia

As of May, 2011, Meiji University has approximately 70 international students who have come from Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore.

Adiwena
Name Adiwena
School School of Business Administration, Department of Business Management
Country Indonesia

Adiwena, a native of Jakarta, Indonesia, currently studies at the Department of Business Management of the School of Business Administration. After spending four years in Taiwan, attending a local high school, He thought about attending a university in an industrialized country in Asia. He ultimately decided to come to Japan, partly because of his parents’ strong recommendation to do so. He studied at a Japanese language school for a little under two years, then entered Meiji University’s School of Business Administration to study business management. In terms of the reasons for choosing Meiji University, Adiwena liked the fact that it was an “open campus” and saw how the students were enthusiastic and outgoing. He was also impressed with the school’s excellent facilities and convenient location, and the high quality of education that was being offered at the School of Business Administration which offers a subject he wanted to major in.

Because he had experienced studying abroad before coming to Japan, and since this was not the first time for him to live in a foreign country, He was able to get used to living in Japan right away. He did have his share of bitter experiences, however: when He arrived in Japan for the first time, he tried to find the apartment that he had rented, relying only on its address. He was unable to find the apartment anywhere and had to walk around searching for two hours! He says that since the address system in Japan is complicated he still gets lost sometimes.

At Meiji University, Adiwena has joined the kick boxing club, and is actively enjoying not only school work but also extracurricular activities. He has lots of friends outside university through his part-time job and various hobbies.

Returned from Indonesia on the day of the earthquake

After spending his spring break in Indonesia, he returned to Japan on the very day of the Great East Japan Earthquake. As he lives within walking distance of the university (Izumi Campus), he himself had no problem getting home. However, as a student of Meiji University, he feels that he could have done something to help the university, which provided lodging to numerous people who were unable to go home on the day of the earthquake. He still regrets that he could not do anything to be of help. He says that he will never forget, for the rest of his life, the fact that he was in Japan on the fateful day when the disaster occurred.

His future dream is to be an active player on the international stage

Adiwena hopes to make use of his experiences of having studied in Taiwan and Japan, and build a career that allows him to work actively on the global stage without limiting opportunities to his native Indonesia. He wants to start his career, first off, in Japan, a country that gave him the chance to study at a university.

Message to prospective students who will be studying in Japan and at Meiji University in the future

“Getting accepted at Japanese universities is difficult, partly because of fierce competition among overseas students. However, the goal is not to take the entrance examination and enter a university; everything truly begins after you are admitted to a university. Never forget that your parents trust you so much that they’ve agreed to send you overseas, and try to set up study plans with clear-cut goals.”

Our next interviewee is Khine Su Lin, a native of Yangon, Myanmar, who also studies at the Department of Business Management, School of Business Administration.

Adiwena
Name Khine Su Lin
School School of Business Administration, Department of Business Management
Country Myanmar

Khine Su Lin entered Meiji University’s Department of Business Management, School of Business Administration after studying one year at a Japanese language school in Tokyo. She loves to study foreign languages, and began studying Japanese as one of many languages. She became serious about going to Japan after getting a high score in a Japanese language proficiency test which she took for the first time. Since she always had a favorable image of Japan as a developed country with advanced technology, she felt that she wanted to study business management, which supports the technological capabilities of Japanese corporations, and decided to study in Japan. At first, her parents were against her studying abroad in Japan since she was an only child. However, she patiently persuaded them and made her wish of studying in Japan come true.

As an overseas student of Meiji University, she leads an active, fulfilling life, blessed with wonderful friends

Other overseas students—such as those from China and South Korea—are also enrolled in classes at Department of Business Management, School of Business Administration, which she currently attends. The atmosphere is very international and she is blessed with lots of friends, regardless of nationality. Most students work hard not only in the subjects they specialize in, but also in language studies. She gets stimulation from them on a daily basis.

One thing that surprised her when she attended a drinking party for the first time with her classmates was that her Japanese classmates, who appeared to be quiet and serious in class during the day, literally transformed themselves at night, at this drinking party, into fun-loving people filled with humor and energy. Partly because there is almost no custom for women to drink alcohol in Myanmar, she herself does not drink, even now.

She loves Japanese food, so she does not miss the foods she used to eat in Myanmar. Her only regret is that there is too little variety of fruits in Japan. For example, in Myanmar, there are more than ten kinds of banana alone, but in Japan, you almost never get to see so many different varieties.

The quality of services in Japan may be number-one in the world

One of the wonderful things about Japan is service—she feels that all kinds of services are provided with utmost care. She herself has worked part-time for over 18 months at Burger King, a hamburger chain. Right now, she not only waits on customers but is also assigned to do work with greater responsibility such as closing the cash register at the end of the day, or writing up sales reports.

Although she is still thinking about concrete plans, she hopes to work in the service industry in Japan in the future, then return to Myanmar and spread the high-level services of Japan in her native country.

Messages to prospective students who will be studying in Japan and at Meiji University in the future

The number of people in Myanmar who study Japanese, and who hope to study in Japan, is growing each year. At the end of the interview, we asked Khine Su Lin to give a message to all the people who hope to study in Japan and at Meiji University.

“There still are very few people from Myanmar who study in Japan. But don’t be afraid even if you didn’t know anybody! Once you enter Meiji University, you can meet lots of new friends. And, since Meiji University has a campus right in the middle of the city, you should be able to enjoy not only studying but also going shopping and working part-time, and lead an exciting and fulfilling life during your limited time studying abroad.”

 

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